Cooper

The monster that wreaked havoc in Lillian, Ohio in the movie Super 8 is an extraterrestial alien creature from another world. It is far more advanced and intelligent compared to humans, and it uses advanced technology, the Argus Craft, to move through space. In 1958 he crash landed on Earth. Captured by the military, he was placed in a holding cell for observation and studying. In 1979 he was transported to another military base near Lillian, Ohio. On the way to the base, the train was derailed and the creature escaped. He soon began to evade the Air Force and reconstruct his lost ship.

Outside of the film, it is refereed to as "Cooper"

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The alien has six limbs and generally moves similar to a spider, but can also stand up tall on its two hind legs. It has two long jointed arms that are capable of grabbing objects and throwing them long distances, and can also use its six limbs to climb. It is small enough to fit into a train car, and was confirmed male in the movie. It can breathe on Earth, but is subterranean and prefers to live underground. It is also presumed to be nocturnal, since it is never seen in the day time, and that is always seen in the film at night.

The alien has telepathic abilities, but can only communicate with humans that it has physically touched. The creature has a connection with Thomas Woodward, who got attacked by the creature during feeding time whilst it was in the captivity of the U.S. Air Force. It can also understand human reasoning, but his time in captivity has made him angry and violent toward humans. The alien is a carnivore and eats all types of meat, including humans. It sometimes collects humans and keeps them alive but unconscious in his underground cavern. It is also very intelligent and collects machines which it hoards in its cave, while it searches for its cubes to rebuild the Argus Craft . The alien can also telekinetically control weapons and make them misfire. It seems to interfere with electrical fields, as the power flickers when he is near. In addition, when the military battles the creature in the town, the alien interferes with the sensors and guidance systems, jamming them, causing the missiles to misfire and land onto the ground.

Animals are afraid of the monster, as most local dogs in Lillian ran away to other counties.

In 1957 the Soviet Union discoved the alien craft after picking up unknown signals from it near Earth when it was watching us. The Soviets sent after the the Sputnik 2 to transmit pictures of the craft. The U.S. Army soon learned about it and sent spies to Soviet to get the files. After a few months the military began Operation Argus to bring the craft down to Earth by detonating a nuclear warhead in the upper atmosphere. After Operation Belttrap, the retrieval mission of the craft, the alien was taken to Area 51. There the U.S. Air Force imprisoned it to study and observe it, as well as its ship. During this time they kept it in a cage and fed it meat, but it managed to attack Thomas Woodward. The Air Force also recovered his ship, which they discovered was made of small white cubes bound together via electromagnetism. For some unknown reason, in 1979 the alien was being transported in a train to another facility and passed near Lillian, Ohio. Woodward had learned of the train's schedule and drove his truck on the tracks, causing the train to derail and the monster to escape.

It ran loose through Lillian, kidnapping some people and eating others. It stole engines, microwaves, power lines, and other mechanical items and kept them in an underground cavern with entry holes in the cemetery and under some houses. The U.S. Air Force pursued the alien, going as far as evacuating the town by making the excuse of Operation: Walking Distance, where a massive forest fire burned throughout the outside land area. They brought the cubes in trucks into the town's center, hoping to lure it into a trap. It managed to out-power them. Using electromagnetism, he drew all the cubes and other metallic items toward the water tower, where the cubes reassembled into his ship. He then boarded his ship and left Earth for his home.

In numerous interviews, J.J. Abrams has stated that the alien in Super 8 has absolutely nothing to do with the monster in the 2008 film Cloverfield which he also produced. The monsters both have some similarities, but he has stated that they are not the same creature, nor are they the same type of creature. Film stills and models released show they have different faces and bodies. (Source)

Some critics and fans have stated that the Alien in Super 8 is a metaphor for either events in the late 1970s or events in current-day America. One article suggests the alien is a metaphor for something much more personal.